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A modern-day eco-retreat on the doorstep of Etosha, Andersson’s Camp gets its name from Charles Andersson, a Swedish explorer who was the first to discover the Etosha Pan. This former farmstead has been stylishly reconstructed to fit contemporary standards. The old farmhouse acts as the main area of Andersson’s Camp, with twenty elevated tents spreading outward, into the private mopane woodlands. Tents are a mixture of calcrete stone cladding, canvas and wood, and are all equipped with small decks.

The Andersson’s Camp region offers all characteristic wildlife of the area, with sightings of plains game such as springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest, Burchell’s zebra, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, waterbuck, red hartebeest, giraffe, eland and endemic black-faced impala. In Etosha, big herds of plain game gather around the waterholes during the dry season, providing some thrilling game viewing. Lion roam between the Park and the Reserve, and both endangered black and white rhino can be spotted. Ten out of fourteen endemic bird species have been recorded in the whole 340 bird species of Ongava.

Andersson’s Camp is situated in a prime location, close to the premier wildlife destination of Namibia, Etosha National Park. Daily outings in this area always offer fantastic game viewing, regardless of the season, and travelling through the exclusive 30,000 hectare Ongava game Reserve provides some wonderful private game drives, along with other experiences. Night drives through the Reserve are available on request, while morning and afternoon/evening game drives can be organised separately.
Guests can embark on a full or half-day guided morning and afternoon game drives through Etosha, completing the experience with a delicious picnic. Here, you will be able to view the enormous renowned saltpan, as well as the perennial springs that provide water to the Park, which is used to support its high concentration of big game. Guided walks through the region allow visitors to admire the diversity of wildlife here, both big and small.

Andersson’s Camp was initially established in 1991, when shareholders of Ongava transformed four unproductive cattle ranches into a highly productive 30,000 hectare private game reserve that is now a sanctuary for big populations of wildlife. Most general game has been reintroduced thanks to the Ongava Game Reserve Re-introduction Project, including springbok, gemsbok (oryx), Hartmann’s mountain zebra, red hartebeest, southern giraffe, eland, Damara dik-dik, and the biggest concentration of the endangered and endemic black-faced impala outside of Etosha.

Another successful re-introduction project is the white and black rhino project, where Ongava holds one of the biggest rhino custodianships for the government of Namibia. The Ongava Research Centre was founded in 2006, and is integral in the ideal management of the reserve’s ecosystems. The Centre is involved in various excellent conservation efforts, specifically those that are centered on the rare black rhino and the endemic black-faced impala. The numbers of the black-faced impala in Ongava have been stable for a while now, at about 300 bucks. This is the biggest ‘pure’ population outside of Etosha, and is said to represent approximately 10% of the global population of this subspecies.